Secret Labour tax bombshell?

By William Green on Nov 25, 08 10:36 PM

THE Tories are cock-a-hoop tonight after a major blunder revealed Chancellor Alistair Darling considered raising VAT to 18.5% in 2011.

The Treasury has insisted the proposal - mistakenly published on an official website - was rejected and Mr Darling instead cut VAT by 2.5% to 15% in his Pre-Budget Report yesterday in a bid to boost the faltering economy.

He said the tax would return its previous 17.5% in January 2010, but acknowledged other tax hikes would be necessary in the future to pay for soaring public borrowing.

The Chancellor said most of those would be borne by the wealthy, but the latest data blunder by the Government has allowed his Tory Opposite George Osborne to claim Gordon Brown has a "secret plan" to increase VAT permanently to 18.5% after the next election expected in 2010.

Mr Osborne said: "This is Labour's secret tax bombshell. It explains why there is a black hole in the PBR. Because at the last minute Gordon Brown clearly decided to keep secret his plan to hit everyone with an extra tax rise to pay for his borrowing binge."

Could the Brown juggernaut be starting to veer off-course after a few successful months politically?

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